So Lynch gives the daily weather report on his website. Yes, every day he updates a video of him reading off the cloud coverage and the weather. I like this because it keeps the site feeling current. Oh, and he sells coffee too. The canisters have his photo on them. Strange? sure.

I’d like to take a moment to comment on the title. What is The Reflecting Skin? Why “reflecting”? Taken literally, the reflecting skin could represent the silver skin on the baby in the photo from Vietnam. However, I am doubting that small part of the movie would account for its name. There are other discussions that the reflecting skin represents the dichotomy between good and evil- and how our selves reflect one or the other. Or, perhaps this has to do with the black and white themes in the film. Dolphin blue is almost always in black. When she is found dead, she is wearing white. This scene actually reminded me of the finale in Cruel Intentions, where Ryan Phillippe is dressed in solid black, and Reese Witherspoonis in clad white. At any rate, I believe that it is definitely not clear as to why Ridley used this title.

What wouldLynch do with this film? Good question. Would he have allowed the frog explosion? Would he used the fetus in the barn? From my experience with Twin Peaks, nothing is out of the question. However, I do think that Lynch would have classed it up a bit. There were a few hokey moments that could have been cut. What Lynch would not have done: that strange sex scene (sans the sex). What Lynch is jealous of: the twins in black. boom.

It’s not your average vampire movie; this one’s got aspirations. Philip Ridley, the British painter-illustrator-novelist who turned screenwriter with the mesmerizing 1990 gangster film The Krays, debuts as a director with a perversely alluring work he describes as “Blue Velvet with children.” Ridley’s script revolves around Seth Dove (a superb Jeremy Cooper), an eight-year-old growing up in the Fifties on the Idaho prairie (the film was shot in Canada). Seth’s mother, Ruth (Sheila Moore), is strict with him, doting only on her older son, Cameron (Viggo Mortensen), a soldier on an atomic-testing mission in the Pacific. Ruth barely tolerates her husband, Luke (Duncan Fraser), a mechanic shamed by a past scandal in which the local sheriff found him and an underage boy “in full embrace.”Luke reads pulp novels, one with a cover illustration of a woman vampire that the impressionable Seth thinks is their English neighbor, Dolphin Blue (the smashing Lindsay Duncan). Dolphin’s been a recluse since her husband’s suicide. But when Seth and his pals — Eben (Codie Lucas Wilbee) and Kim (Evan Hall) — play a nasty trick on Dolphin, Ruth forces Seth to apologize. Dolphin’s house, filled with whaling gear, fascinates Seth. Later, he watches her masturbate.

Seth’s sexual fears are soon heightened by violence. Eben is found drowned. When Luke is accused, he torches himself. Then Kim is murdered. Seth has seen four men driving around in a black Caddy, but he suspects only Dolphin, who has now taken up with his brother, home for their father’s funeral. Some of this arty Freudian posturing about a boy’s head-on collision with sex, sin and death is ponderous. But Ridley is a visionary, and his haunting film, luminously shot by Dick Pope, exerts a hypnotic pull. Through a child’s eyes, Ridley confronts us with our own primal fear of the dark.

If you browse a “Reflecting Skin” Google search, you may come across folks who list this film as the “worst movie ever”. I’ll be frank and say that I can see where they are coming from. The movie’s strangeness and uncertainty can put people off. However, I would say that anything on the extreme has a lot of creative potential. Meaning, there is a reason why people judge this film to be the worst. First off, they obviously remembered the film enough to add it to the list. Secondly, they probably remember several scenes in order to retell their “worst place” reasoning to others. And lastly, as with the political spectrum, anything that is extreme left is encroaching on extreme right (with political viewpoints as being in a circle). Therefore, the “worst” movies are easily the “best” movies in someone else’s book.

I am sure that someone out there could tell me about the fetus. Whats the deal? Why a fetus? It was at this point in the movie where I literally said “what the…”. Watch it, you will see what I mean. An angel? A devil? Help me out here people! :)

Was anyone else *really* creeped out by the twins toward the beginning of the film? You know, the cackling ones that carried a dead bird. How could you miss them? Well, the first time I saw The Reflecting Skin, the twins were the biggest anomaly to me. I dove into discussions about what the twins meant… but alas I was not able to unearth much. After another Google search, I still was not able to find commentary on these gals. So, if anyone has thoughts on what they represent in the film, please post! Or- perhaps you have found discussion elsewhere…

They say that if you like David Lynch, then you will like The Reflecting Skin. It even says so on the VHS box. However, is this really true? Sure, the RefSk has many strange moments… bad music, and creepy characters- all characteristics of David Lynch films. However, does the movie really have what it takes to qualify as Lynch worthy?

Case in point one: David Lynch often portrays life in a small town (Twin Peaks, Straight Story… there are more). The Reflecting Skin also takes place in a small town. Check one, Reflecting Skin.

Case in point two: While David Lynch is often off the deep end on the “strangeness factor,” The Reflecting Skin has drowned in it. There is almost no way to completely figure out The Reflecting Skin. No context clues, no foreshadowing, nadda. Its nice to be able to somewhat understand the hidden meaning. Check one, Lynch.

Case in point three: there is no midget dancing in The Red Room in The Reflecting Skin. Check two, Lynch.

Ok, so maybe that wasn’t as fair as it could have been. The ticker on the VHS cover is right… if you like David Lynch, then you’ll like The Reflecting Skin. True. However, as we have seen, in a face off, Lynch will win every time.